Ghana-Japan relations will grow stronger – Terkper
Finance Minister Seth Terkper has noted that despite the suspension of the Yen loan to the country after it joined the ranks of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative in 2001, Japan has continued to be one of Ghana’s most important bilateral and multilateral partners.
He said Japan’s immense assistance to Ghana had helped in the construction of community health posts, truck roads, rehabilitation works, construction of river bridges, and rural power distribution improvement projects, among others.
It was therefore gratifying to learn that Japan was considering the resumption of the Yen loan which would contribute significantly towards infrastructural development in the country, he added.
Mr Terkper stated these in a speech when he led a Government delegation to participate in the 80th birthday celebration of Emperor Akihito of Japan at the Japanese Ambassador’s residence in Accra.
He indicated that the exchange of official visits between Ghana and Japan would continue to play a significant role not only in deepening relations between the two countries and noted with satisfaction that representatives of 20 Japanese companies visited Ghana in July to explore business opportunities.
“To this end, it is hoped that the Governments of Ghana and Japan will be able to agree on the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) which will give added confidence to Japanese investors in Ghana as well as actualize the intention for enhanced Japanese business engagement with Africa”, he said.
The Finance Minister said the Government of Ghana had currently embarked on a massive infrastructure development to open up the country to sustain growth and diversify its economy, adding that for the past two decades, Ghana had made tremendous strides in creating an enabling business environment and political stability to attract investors.
Mr Terkper thanked the Government and people of Japan for the tremendous services rendered by Japanese Volunteers to the people of Ghana in different sectors of the economy.
Mr Naoto Nikai, Japan’s Ambassador to Ghana, observed that the warm and close relationship between Japan and the Republic of Ghana deepened even more this year when President John Mahama led a Ghanaian delegation to the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) in Yokohama in June.
Subsequently, he said, there were exchanges of visits at the political level by the two countries, including that of Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in August. Those visits, he said, contributed significantly to the further promotion and expansion of bilateral relations between Japan and Ghana.
The Ambassador noted that the year 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of economic cooperation between the two countries. “In 1963, JICA started operations by providing technical cooperation for the textile technique training centre. Since then, our partnership has expanded in the areas of health, education, agriculture, infrastructure,industry, and capacity building”, he said.
He cited the construction of more than 70 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPs) compounds, providing the services experts and volunteers, provision of scholarships for postgraduate studies in public health in Japan and the annual health sector support budget as part of the Japanese government’s effort to help improve health care delivery in Ghana.
Mr Nikai further mentioned the rehabilitation of the National Trunk Road N8 constructed with a Japanese Government grant of approximately 100 million US dollars,the road from Bekwai to Assin Praso with a new bridge over Pra River, the rural power distribution improvement project, which will service Sunyani and Tamale areas,as well as a new bridge over the Volta River along the Eastern Corridor, as some of Japan’s assistance in the area of infrastructural development.
He expressed his commitment to the facilitation of business partnerships between Ghana and Japan, saying“It is my sincere hope that the economic ties between the two countries will expand significantly over the next decades.”
Source: GNA